Week 6: Bienvenidos a Retalhuleu!! (Welcome To Retalhuleu!!)

WoW for sure some of the craziest days of my life this past week!!



The last couple days in the CCM were basically classes on how to survive the field. Stuff like what to do when you get kidnapped, stabbed, or robbed!!! And it was all in Spanish so I only got about 50% haha. So lets just hope none of those happen to me!

Brynn saying goodbye to her MTC District

Our district sang in church on Sunday and just our luck the president of the church in central America (Juan A Uceda), the 1st counselor in the primary presidency (Lisa Harkness), and the 2nd counselor in the relief society ( Reyne A Burto) were all attending!!! I got to chat with them after and they are all such awesome people!!

My last day in el CCM was seriously so sad because I felt like I was leaving my family again!!! I got so close with all the people there so yeah it was hard pero todo esta bien.


Brynn and her new companion

We left the CCM at 3:30 am and took the craziest bus ride here!!! With all the buses you take with your luggage they throw it up on top and you just pray that all your stuff gets there hahah There were sooo many volcanoes on the way into reu I cannot even count!! But they were so pretty to look at! We also got to witness some of the living conditions here in Guatemala and wow, I am truly humbled by the happiness these people have even though they have so little.


The Goodman's (my mission presidents) are AWESOME! They are seriously sooo caring and have such good advice for us missionaries!

San Marcos, Guatemala

San Marcos, Guatemala

I have been assigned to San Marcos!!! The coldest part of the mission at 10,000 ft. elevation!!! So we had to take a 6 hour bus ride up the mountains and WOW THAT WAS SO SKETCH!!!! It was raining so hard and this HUGE bus was hauling up the small sketchy back roads!! hahaha! But needless to say I loved that bus ride because they pack people in three to a seat and you can't even move it is so crowded, and it was so great because I got to give every person that sat by me a gospel message and they couldn't run away from me!!!! I passed out more folletos than I can count and I placed a Book of Mormon on the taxi ride to our house! I would get nervous to talk to all these random Guatemalans but then I would hear a voice in my head say "OPEN YOUR MOUTH" so I did and the Lord helped me as I taught about prophets and the restoration and eternal families and the Book of Mormon!!

San Marcos, Guatemala

Anyways we got to the house and I really don't want to sound like a total American right now but I was so surprised by the living conditions. haha! My comp told me we have the best house in the entire mission, so yeah I don't even want to know what the other house are like so I will enjoy this house while it lasts!!

We woke up to the water not working this morning so that was just DANDY!!! haha


Honestly I am so happy to be here. I almost cried of happiness this morning because I was walking down the streets of San Marcos and I realized I wanted this so so so bad for a mission and I got it. I get to serve in the most beautiful country with the most beautiful people!! Pray for me this week cause who knows what's gonna happen!!!


Con amor,
Hermana Salisbury

Brynn exploring the waterfalls in San Marcos, on her day off!

 

 

Week 5: Adios CCM (Goodbye Missionary Training Center)

Hola Hermanos y Hermanas!!!

This was such an amazing week (like usual) I got to teach EIGHT real life investigators!! It was so good to get some practice with real people before I hit the field this week! Two of my favorite lessons were when I got to help a full grown man learn how to prayed. I prayed word by word and he repeated it for his prayer! It was so fun!! 

 

Then we taught a lesson and we were talking about the saviors sacrifice and what not. While hermana banks was testifying I felt super prompted to share Alma 7:11 with this investigator and so I turned to it super fast and had him read it. As he read it he got really emotional and started to cry. I asked him why he was crying and he shared some personal trials he has gone through and how the saviors atonement helped him through it. It was a very powerful lesson. It is so crazy to think with my broken Spanish I was able to help the spirit testify of the power of the atonement. 

 

Then me and Hermana Banks got to help translate from Spanish to English because the nurse needed help figuring out what was wrong with a Latino. It was so exciting to finally have enough Spanish to help someone else understand!

 

I have been laughing SO hard this week and I am pretty sure it is my way of trying not to act nervous for when I enter the field this coming Tuesday. We sadly found out that a missionary got shot in Honduras this past week because of gang violence. Hearing that made me super nervous but I know in whom I have trusted and I know that the Lord will always provide a way and he has a plan.

 

It is not about numbers once I get to the field. I am not trying to see how many baptisms I can get on my mission. My purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ, and by so doing they will have the desire to follow his example and come unto him through baptism. I know that leaving to the field will be a big change, and it is gonna be a little scary. But never the less I am so motivated to share the Fathers story, and the sacrifice of His son. 

 

Alright I am not sure when I will email next but I will email as soon as I can in RETALHULEU!!!!!!!

Con Amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 4: Sigue con los golpes...(Roll With the Punches)

¡HOLAAA!

This week was one of a kind hahah. All I can say is I have been rolling with the punches. 

The new kids (aka new missionaries) showed up to the CCM this week!! I was so excited to scare them with my 3 weeks of Spanish hahaha!! When they pulled up I started talking to all the little hermanas in straight Spanish and they all looked like deers in the headlights ahaha I felt so bad for them because I was just like them a couple weeks ago!

Because all the new kids are here we are at max capacity of 152 missionaries hahaha It is so nice going to a small MTC because you seriously get to know everyone!! 

This week took a turn when literally BOTH of my districts teachers decided to switch classes because there was a miscommunication??? It is such a long story but basically we got new teachers and it was a little hard for our district.

On a happy we note we got to teach our FIRST REAL LIFE INVESTIGATOR!!!!!!!! It was so so awesome!! We got to teach about the plan of salvation and the love god has for her. I learned that the spirit will move you when he needs you to get something done haha!

Then we got to go street contacting in downtown Guatemala city!!! I PLACE MY FIRST EL LIBRO DE MORMON!!!! I was pumped!! I was giving him the back story on it and then I asked him if he would read it that night and he straight up was like no. So I said, ¨"PORQUE?" and he responded with his concerns about the Book of Mormon, he said it does not testify of Christ so I cracked open the book and gave him some examples and showed it truly is another testament of Jesus Christ. Entones I proceeded to re ask him if he would read it that night and he said YES!!! It was the best feeling to know I helped bring some light to the subject of the Book of Mormon in his life! 

I have been told that I am super BOLD when I teach. My comp always says that I am not afraid to bring up to questions nobody wants to ask hahah. I think I can thank the spirit for that. I know how important this message is and I know that it can change lives. 

Me and my comp got to teach relief society this week!!! It was a super good experience and we have gotten so good at teaching lessons as a team!! 

This week was just another week of learning patience with the language and having patience with myself. A quote that really hit me hard was "The Lord calls us in our weakness, but qualifies us for the work". I cannot say amen enough times to that quote. The lord will never call us to do something without being there to support us. He will always be there to raise us up during the times we feel the most unqualified. I love you all and hope you guys have an amazing week!! Dos semanas mas until RETALHULEU!! 

Con Amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 3: Mi primero robo (My First Robbery)

HOLA

Wow this week so hard. Super stressed out trying to learn Spanish. 

Brynn with her District

Me and Hermana Banks got 2 new investigators this week!! It has been good to teach by the spirit and not using a script that I wrote before ahaha! I love when I have plans to teach one lesson, but then we get in there and we listen to the needs of the individual and the lesson plan totally goes out the window!! It is the best because we know we are teaching something that the person will benefit from! 

So much studying Spanish

Me and Hermana Banks have been doing "English fasts" every couple of days. We refuse to speak English to each other all day and if we need something in English we have to use a dictionary and figure it out!! It made the days really hard but it has been benefiting our Spanish! 

Temple Grounds

This week we got to go street contacting WITH REAL PEOPLE!!!! It was the coolest experience because we got to talk to the people of Guatemala and teach them the restoration on the fly!! We got to contact 6 people and teach them about what we believe in!! It was the first time I did not have to translate English to Spanish in my head!! The words just came and I said what I needed to say! We also had our first rejection!! We introduced ourselves and all she would say to us is "Satanás" hahahah (that is Satan in español) 

Brynn with the MTC Mission President

On Sunday I got to share my testimony to my branch! It was such a good to practice español! It went something like "Hola! Mi nombre es Hermana Salisbury. Soy de California, y mi mision es Retalhuleu Guatemala. Yo se que Padre Celestial y jesucristo es amoroso. Yo se que jesucristo es mi salavador y nuestros salvador. Yo se que José Smith es un profeta de Dios. Yo se que el don de lingues es verdadero y yo se que español es muy dificil para mi pero yo se que jesucristo ayudarme todas los días. En el nombre de Jesucristo Amen."

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Anyways on Sunday night my camera got stolen out of my room. We know that someone went in there but we cannot identify who. What we do know is it was a Latina and they left this morning for their mission, so I hope she enjoys my camera on the mission!!! I am surprisingly handling it super well, and at this point I just feel bad that a missionary would be willing to steal for a camera. 

Even though this was a rough week for me I know that all this hard work will pay off. It is time to forget my personal problems and get to work. I feel so blessed to be taking part in such a sacred work. I cannot wait for the weeks ahead and all the other trials ahead that will help me grow into the person Heavenly Father knows I can be. Love you all! 

Con amor, 

Hermana Salisbury 

Week 2: ¡Es un Gran Dia Para Ser Misionera! (It's a Great Day To Be a Missionary!)

¡¡¡Hola!!!

I survived week 2!!!!! 

This week has been tons and tons of Spanish, lots of hard work and being mentally and emotionally exhausted. But I would not change it for ANYTHING!!! 

Brynn with other young ladies serving missions

I seriously would not be able to make it through these longgg days without my awesome district and comp!!! We all get along so well and they make it so much easier to learn a foreign language in 6 weeks! There are 8 boys and 2 girls hahaha the girls are super out numbered here in Guatemala CCM! I love my comp Hermana Banks sooo much!! She is from Manteca, CA and we went to BYUI AT THE SAME TIME!!! 

Brynn with her companion Sis. Banks

I finally can understand the Latinos (I never thought I would make it to that day) the Latinos here are sooo nice and kind and super willing to help us gringos learn Spanish haha but sometimes the Latinos are a little too nice hahaha I was told to watch out for them because they apparently want "white babies" and will try to flirt with the gringas to accomplish that haha. So needless to say I have had many Latino elders ask for my email hahaha, they all try and speak in English to me and it is so funny.

Finally found some food she likes

We committed our "practice" investigator baptism!!!!! I WAS PUMPED! I got to quote the baptismal invitation I learn!! Me and Hermana Banks have been teaching out lessons without notes and it has been so nice to learn to follow the spirit and try out speaking Spanish without a back up plans.

This week we went to the Guatemala immigration office. Just imagine 50 gringos in downtown Guatemala city trying to not draw attention to themselves haha the 4 hermanas that were there ended up having to get taken to a separate spot cause they thought it was too dangerous. I loved being around the people and I was sooo tempted to teach the first lesson to them because I just memorized the lesson points to lesson one and the first vision in Spanish!!! And we had just practiced street contacting!!

More shots from people

Then we got MORE SHOTS!!!! I was not even surprised. I am not even sure which shots I am getting at this point, I am just giving them my arm and hoping for the best hahaha 

In church this week me and my 3 other roommates sang "Andar en la Luz" and let me tell you if you think singing in English is hard try Spanish!!!! It was good though and the spirit was strong! 

And on top of being busy all week the food messed me up this week!!! We have all been super sick from the food and a virus going around the CCM.

Brynn with the Christus Statue

The most important thing I learned this week is a story from the bible when Christ had just died and Peter and the other disciples did not know what to do with their extra time so they decided to go back to fishing. Then the savior appeared and asked Peter 3 times if he loved him, and of course he said yes, and Christ responded and said, "Then feed my sheep." When he called Peter to be a disciple it was forever, when he called Peter to be a missionary he meant forever. You cannot go back to your figurative fishing net, you cannot go back to your old ways after you change your life. Always move onward and upward to become like our savior Jesus Christ. 

Con Amor, 

Hermana Salisbury

Week 1: First Week in the MTC

 

WOW this has been the longest week of my life. For good and bad hahaha It all started by taking off from LAX at 12:00 am and landing at 6:00 am !!! Right when I got off the plane a little boy came up to me and asked if he could have my watch in Spanish hahah. I was like what the heck NOOOO then we had a full day at the CCM. I was awake for a total of 50 hours by the time I went to be my first night. It was seriously such a hard day for me.

Just landed in Guatemala to begin their missions!

Right when we pulled up to the MTC everything was in Spanish (nothing has changed a week later) and i was beyond stressed. ON TOP OF THAT some guy walked up to me holding a shot telling me (in Spanish) that i needed a flu shot i was like UHHH WHAT and he didn't look legit at all but i let him do it anyways hahahaha

Brynn got her missionary tag!

Missionary Training Center in Guatemala City, Guatemala

Also this city is super dangerous. there are always 2 guards with guns outside the fence and there are ambulances 24/7 driving up and down the streets. We saw the cops drive by one time and all it was was a truck with a sticker on the side with 8 guys with machine guns in the back ahahha i was dying. People get hit by cars here all the time. 2 people from the mtc got hit this week. AND we had two earthquakes this week so yeah Guatemala City is THE BEST
haha never a dull moment.

It has been non stop learning here at the MTC I seriously have Spanish classes all day long. I have learned and done so much already!!! I have taught 4 lessons in Spanish to an investigator and we have learned how to pray and bear our testimonies!! I already have the missionary purpose and baptismal invites memorized in Spanish. I would say my Spanish is well enough to have small talk but with really bad grammar!! So I am making tons of progress!!

Brynn's District and with her companion Hermana Banks

Don't even get me started on the meals hahaha our favorite thing to do is to get our food and try to guess what it is while we are eating hahaha. SO yeah we don't know what we have been eating but I do know it is killing my intestines hahaha 

The way we have been trying to learn Spanish is speaking Spanglish 24/7. Like if we know the word in Spanish we never say it in English again. It has been awesome, and I know it has paid off because all my roommates told me I have been sleep talking in Spanish hahaha I¨will wake up yelling "QUEEE????" and "SALIR SALIR" ahhaah I feel so bad for them!

Pointing to her mission she will go to after 6 weekes of training

Guatemala Temple

So on Sunday we had sacrament meeting (all in Spanish) and I didn't really know what was going on but I did understand a good 40% of talks haha but anyways the person conducting got up and said (in Spanish) we will now have HERMANA SALISBURY SPEAK FROM THE RETALHULEU MISSION I was in COMPLETE shock!!!!! So I literally got up and gave a 5 minute talk on the atonement in Spanish in front of tons of Latinas aahha the gift of tongues is so real, all the Latinas sitting by me told me i did really good ahha they were probably just being nice!!! Someone also spoke in a native mayan language hahaha so sick!!! 

Today we went to the Guatemala city temple!!! it was such a cool experience! 

In conclusion this has been the craziest week and I am SOOO grateful for the power of prayer and the fact that God does answer prayers. He knows us and will always provide a way for us to reach our goals and fullest potential. The biggest thing I learned this week is I am not here to learn Spanish for my self, I am here to learn Spanish to serve the people of Retalhuleu.

Love Always, 

HERMANA SALISBURY

p.s. i only get an hour to email and i cant send pictures at the mtc because the computers will crash (classic Guatemala) 

Leaving Home.....Onto Guatemala

Return With Honor Brynn

WOW 1st day as a missionary!!

The family spent the day packing and hanging out. I was very calm the entire day. Before we knew it, it was time to head to LAX. We had a family prayer and then dad gave me a fathers blessing. We had the last supper at in-n-out! I got my last double-double for 18 months! Then we drove to LAX and the time went bye so fast!! I blinked and we were already checking my bags. I was in complete shock saying bye to my family. My body and mind could not process what was happening. I hugged and cried with everyone in front of the escalator and then I left. I cried for a couple minutes walking to security, but after that I was good.

 Goodbye Luke

 Goodbye Drew

Goodbye Kamryn

Goodbye Kennedy

Goodbye Mom

 Goodbye Dad

 I walked into the terminal to find at least 30 missionaries!! It was so fun!! I cannot even tell you how much energy there was in that room. Everyone was so PUMPED! We all talked for hours until we boarded our flight! FULL SEND! I hope I can draw strength from the savior’s example. I know I am going to have some hard days in Guatemala but as I follow the saviors example of perseverance I know I can overcome the tough days and focus on my missionary purpose.